I got a job, got married, and bought a house in one week.

But first, let’s talk about my intervals.

Last week was solid. The hours weren’t huge since I’m working full time again but they were quality for sure. Last week also marked my first attempt of the season to complete a block of intervals. I’ve become an avid believer in stacking three or more days together. I haven’t had the mental fortitude to do this in a long time, so just getting out there and completing them was a good first step.

Monday was a rest day. So Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I did 6 x 4 minutes on Old Stage, which is the closest hill to work. I’d planned on doing my VO2 on NCAR this year but I just don’t have the time to get down there on lunch break. Anyways, I averaged 401 watts the first two days, then 410 the last day. Normally I’d be pretty upset about these shitty numbers (don’t forget how big and fat and heavy I am), but considering the lack of consistent training to date, I was happily content–especially since I improved the numbers slightly that final day. I did the Gateway ride on Saturday then did a cold, snowy team ride on Sunday followed by our first team dinner/meeting. With eight weeks to Redlands, I figured that if I kept up a similar regime of too many intervals mid week and two long rides on the weekend (the 9-5 weekend warrior’s training plan) I’d have a fighting chance come April. But of course it has to snow every other god damn day.

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, let’s talk about Marriage, bay-bee, let’s talk about you, and me. Yeah you read the title of this post correctly. I got married last Friday. A simultaneous WTF and congratulations are expected. We had our union at this quaint, lovely little place called the Clerk’s office. Adelaide meant to bring in our Elk Van’s registration papers and kill two birds with one stone since the Clerk’s office is right above the DMV but she forgot.

Photo courtesy: Quinn Keogh. Van courtesy: Quinn Keogh (we’re now the proud owners of Quinn’s excellent Elk Van, which we’ve named Quinn.

Back up to Thursday night (you’ll remember Thursday as the final day of my interval block): Our realtor slash friend Kim Hawksworth emailed us info about a few condos that had just gone on the market. They were out of Adelaide’s original mortgage price range, but since I’d just gotten re-hired at SmartEtailing, we could afford something a bit bigger–something with two bedrooms. We had to act fast. Condos in north Boulder sell within a matter of days. If we were to look at and make an offer on a place on Saturday, that meant we’d have to be married by Friday. Tomorrow.

At mid-day on Friday, Adelaide and I stepped out during lunch break, letting our co-workers know we’d be back in an hour or so. We had grins from ear to ear. It felt a bit ridiculous to be stepping out to get married on lunch break, and for no one to know about our plans either. At this point the only people who knew we were getting married were us and Adelaide’s parents. By pure luck chance, they happened to be in town, visiting from Pittsburgh to house sit and take care of their other daughter (Lydia’s) cat. My parents had been informed with a voicemail, which they didn’t get in time.

Adelaide and I met her parents at the Clerk’s office, still grinning uncontrollably, sat down and signed papers for about 15 minutes. It cost $30. An additional $2.50 for two copies of our marriage license. We went outside to sit at a picnic table in the sun and eat cheese and crackers and drink sparkling cider with Adelaide’s parents. I called my mom, who was definitely surprised, but not that surprised. At this point in my and my brother’s lives, it takes a lot to shock our parents.

After that we stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a mini Kim & Jake’s Cakes to bring back to the office and spill the beans. We got out of work early and spent that afternoon riding around town on our mountain bikes in the sun, then went for a quick swim workout at the Rec center. The nonchalant-ness about the whole thing meant that it’s taken a little while for it to sink in. Nothing has changed between us other than some legal formalities, which is why I wasn’t nervous about getting married before. My heart rate remained a steady constant during the final paper-signing and there were no butterflies. I had already made up my mind when I asked Adelaide four months ago in the hospital when she was in a coma. Still though, I think the realization that I have a wife for life just hit me while writing this. By the way, only a couple dozen people know we got married so if you feel left out, don’t worry. Everyone was.

With the new job I’d started that Monday and the marriage taken care of on Friday, that left us with two days to find a home (to make the title of this post work). We sent an offer Sunday night and the contract was signed the next day. We decided on a less expensive one bedroom loft just across the street from us with an entire wall of windows. It’s small but awesome.

Yes, I got married in my puffy jacket. I also wasn’t wearing clean pants. Or underwear. You may be asking yourself why Adelaide decided to marry me. I’ve wondered that at times too but have wisely never prodded her on it. Regardless, she’s mine now! That’s what these documents say right? That I legally own her?Ummm, hi Mom. Yeah I’m doing fine. I just got married actually…A long week and a long Saturday ride. Adelaide did just over three hours that day. Her physical and mental recovery are going as well as anyone could hope for. She’s only just reached the half way mark but she’s on the mend.Team ride before the god damn snow. Fuck you snow, from the bottom of my ice-cold heart.Oh yeah. I did a race the previous Sunday. Not a true race really, a rally actually. The Old Man Winter Rally had thrills and spills and was a great way to get the season unofficially started. There was $1,000 on the line for first place so it was actually a race. Here we are just entering the “Secret Trail” section of the course. This is when the cross guys put eight minutes into me. I was pissed right the hell off to say the least.Earlier: Josh attacks about .5 miles after the neutral section.

We started out with a group of 300 from Lyons. All types of bikes and riders were present for the 60-mile event: road bikes, cross, mountain, fat bikes, racers and non racers alike. The first 10 minutes were the most exciting (aside from seeing Tom Danielson at the start! He’s my hero). Heading down highway 66 with a strong wind at our backs and coasting at 30 miles an hour (neutralized) behind a police escort car with about 90% of the field probably having zero pack skills, we approached the first of many rough dirt sections. We took a 90-degree right turn and the race was on and the police car took off. The pack dove into the corner and fanned out across the narrow dirt road, immediately freaking out a horse with a rider on its back that was in the oncoming lane on the far left side of the road. No one was on a trajectory to hit the horse until it whinnied, back pedaled, reared up on its hind legs, and toppled over backwards, crushing its rider. I think the words I uttered were something along the lines of “Holy what the fuckin shit?!” There was no time to look back since the cross winds immediately tore the field apart. Three minutes into the race and the lead group was like 13 guys. I sat in to catch my breath and wonder if the horse was alright (he was, and so was his rider). Josh attacked a few minutes after that into the head wind, everyone sat up, and the group grew to 40 or so. A few minutes after that Michael attacked to bridge up to him and immediately crashed hard over a pot hole. I was right behind and had a very good view of his skull bounce hard off the ground. Actually, more like the ground bounced off his skull am I right!? (Michael is a damn beast in case you weren’t aware).

His crash signaled the end of anyone’s motivation to ride hard until we got to Left Hand Canyon, the base of the first climb. By then Josh was minutes up the road and had burned about 1,000 more calories than the rest of us, battling the wind all on his lonesome. Chris followed an attack by Sepp Kuss (mountain biker) and got up the road out of sight pretty quickly. He ended up losing contact then smacked his bike hard into a rock on the trail section, putting the breaks on when his fork started acting mushy–a wise call.

Long story short: I chased down moves and sat on. I had two teammates up the road and I liked their chances better than mine for holding out over the snow and ice of that damn Secret Trail section. I ended up losing between 7 and 8 minutes on it to the leaders, having to run 90% of it since I suck at bike steering. I chased fairly hard for a while then decided to wait for some guys that I was currently passing, going up Old Stage, so I could have some help during the last 15 miles of flat wind. That was a mistake since all but one guy dropped off immediately. I broke a derailleur cable a while later. I caught up to one last group a few miles before the finish that contained Colby, Josh, and one other guy. I was disappointed to see Josh in that group since that meant that he wasn’t going to win and we wouldn’t make any money. There were four guys way up the road, all cross studs, and they took up the three money spots. It was a fun but frustrating day.

Adelaide and I got married!